Two Sedona schools topped the state average for students passing the 2010 Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards test, while one school fell below the state average in a few areas.

Big Park Community School and Sedona Red Rock High School topped the state average in each subject tested and each grade level.

Overall all, the three public schools scored well above the state average for students passing the test in science.

The AIMS test consists of four subjects: math, reading, writing and science.

To pass the test, students had to meet or exceed the standards.

Sedona-Oak Creek School District Superintendent Mike Aylstock said the 2010 AIMS numbers are really good and added principals worked hard, but will continue to reach out to help students not passing.

“Our numbers are really good, but we always want to be better,” he said. “This gives us something to concentrate on [in the future].”

He said the results are similar to those in recent years and mentioned he has always been happy with the results.

The AIMS test for math and reading tested grades three to eight and grades 10 and 12 at the high school.
The writing portion tested grades five to seven and sophomores, juniors and seniors.

Aylstock, a former chemistry teacher, said he looked at the science scores with a keen interest, though only grades four and eight and sophomores and juniors were tested.

In the fourth grade at Big Park, 83 percent of students passed the science portion, while 82 percent of eighth-graders at this school did the same.

The AIMS results show 71 percent of fourth-graders at West Sedona School passed the science part, and another 80 percent of eighth-graders also passed the subject.

At the high school, 38 percent of juniors passed the science part and 78 percent of sophomores succeeded. By comparison, the state average for fourth-grade students passing science was 61 percent with 58 percent of eighth-graders passing the test.

Thirty-five percent of juniors statewide passed the science portion of the test, and 62 percent of sophomores did the same.

At Big Park, 62 percent of sixth graders passed the math test, which was the lowest percentage for the school in this subject, but 83 percent of eighth-graders passed the test.

Forty-seven percent of sixth-grade West Sedona students passed the math test, while 65 percent of seventh-graders did the same.

AT SRRHS, 79 percent of seniors taking the test passed the math portion of the AIMS, while 74 percent of juniors and 79 percent of sophomores succeeded.

The high mark for the state for students passing the math part of the AIMS was 64 percent for third grade and the low mark was 56 percent for eighth grade.

In writing, 95 percent of Big Park seventh-grade students passed, while 76 percent of West Sedona students for the same grade succeeded.

According to information provided by the state, 78 percent of the 2012 graduating class at the high school passed the math part of the AIMS test.

Aylstock said high school students are required to pass the writing, math and language arts parts of AIMS. Once they pass, they do not have to take the test again.

At the Sedona Charter School, the passing percentage for math fluctuated by grade level with 43 percent of sixth graders passing and 78 percent of third-grade students passing.

The Sedona Charter School also had a high percentage of students passing the reading AIMS test with 95 percent of eighth-graders and 90 percent of seventh-graders succeeding.
The percentage of charter school students passing the writing part of AIMS mirrored what happened at Big Park with 76 percent of fifth-graders, 74 percent of sixth-graders and 95 percent of seventh-graders succeeding.
At West Sedona, 54 percent of fifth-graders passed the writing part of AIMS, and 76 percent
of seventh-graders did the same.

The percentage of fourth-grade charter students passing the science part of the AIMS was 53 percent compared to the state’s average of 61 percent, and 91 percent of eighth-grade charter students passed this test, which was 33 percentage
points higher than the state average.
Aylstock said he just provided his principals with the results and is planning to give details of the scores to board members at a future SOCSD Governing Board meeting.